Your local trails

[lulubel]

I'm kind of glad to see you all posting this.

When we got our first (cheap) MTBs, we'd just had a month of almost continuous rain. We tried to go for a ride on them, but gave up and came home, thinking "this is no fun" because the mud was almost up to the wheel axles in a lot of places. I thought we were just being wimps!

 

[Alan57]

Went out today for 20 miles on my MTB ,mainly on the roads as the moors were totally sodden and the road/track up from the village was like a river . Lots of standing water on the main road , saw a couple of roadies out but , to be honest , I wouldn`t chance it as the water hides pot holes, debris, dead sheep and god know`s what . Love my road bike , but at present it`s "horses for courses" and the roads around here just ain`t worth the chancing of it.

 

[Motozulu]

still hurt myself more and more often off-road than I do on tarmac, and I commute 3-4 days a week on a bike.

Which is all true - until the day you lose an argument with a 38 tonne East European artic with a very tired Polish driver.

I'll take my chances with a static beech, ta very much. Hurting is better than feeling nothing!

 

[lulubel]

Which is all true - until the day you lose an argument with a 38 tonne East European artic with a very tired Polish driver.

I'll take my chances with a static beech, ta very much. Hurting is better than feeling nothing!

You know you're contradicting your sig line with these kind of posts, don't you?

(Just winding you up, by the way. I've got no argument with what type of bikes, or where, you prefer to ride.)

 

[adamangler]

love winter mtb. its a proper mud bath, but i dont mind going out and getting blathered, went thru a road bridge today with water over the cranks feet up in the air, pulling myself through via a railing.Get out, get cold soaked and have fun.

 

[User19783]

Hi motozulu,
Can you keeps us posted on the conditions , as I am going to cannock soon, new year day is looking good.

 

[lukesdad]

Sounds like everybody is having the rain we have all year, a lot of the track ive built at home is all weather for this reason.

 

[Motozulu]

Yes User19783 - will do. Was going to go today but seriously it's just bucketing down and I know part of the Dog at least is shut down - I'm going to try tomorrow morning (yes I know it's Crimbo day but Mrs Zulu is working so we're having Christmas when she gets home). I have held off because I don't want to damage the trails by riding in this weather but the blue routes are mostly hardpack fire road so I can ride them guilt free. Will report back on conditions tomorrow.

 

[Motozulu]

No probs Lulu - I know you for one have come off worst in an argument with a car! The only bit of my ride that I don't enjoy is the 3 miles I have to do on the road to get to the Chase, lorries going past me with about 6 inches to spare

 

[Motozulu]

Luke - you've built a track at home! tell us more - any piccies?

 

[Peteaud]

The only thing putting me off the MTB at the moment is the dire Elixir brakes (that are going to be binned and some nice Deore to be fitted) when time and money allow.

 

[Motozulu]

I hear this time and time again - glad my new bike has the Formula RX's! what is so bad about the avids Pete? and how can such a big company keep getting it so wrong? don't they have a testing department? also if they are so bad why are so many makes of bike equipping them?

 

[lulubel]

what is so bad about the avids Pete?

I'd be interested to know this to. The comments I've seen other people make are along the lines of, "They work fine - until they don't."

My OH has Avids on her bike, and she isn't finding them very easy, but I think it's because she's finding it hard to get used to the light touch you need with disc brakes, compared to the death grip she needs to stop her road bike. I think, riding a MTB with Vs before I got my Cube gave me a chance to get used to more powerful brakes gradually rather than being thrown straight in at the deep end. Having said that, I'm the one who's had the rear wheel off the ground (unintentionally) - or at least she hasn't admitted to it!

 

[lukesdad]

Luke - you've built a track at home! tell us more - any piccies?

there are a few on the forum I think, it gets added to every year built in my 5 acres of woodland on the side of a steep valley. 300ft top to bottom. When the weather perks up i ll take some more piccies.

 

[Cubist]

I hear this time and time again - glad my new bike has the Formula RX's! what is so bad about the avids Pete? and how can such a big company keep getting it so wrong? don't they have a testing department? also if they are so bad why are so many makes of bike equipping them?

Avids work really well. They stop the bike well, they are light and powerful.... BUT

They are a complete pig to align/set up properly. The Elixir Rs on my Boardman needed adjusting every ride to stop them from singing/rubbing.
They are a pig to bleed, and they need bleeding regularly.
Many people can't be bothered to adjust/set them up/bleed them, so unless you are prepared to invest time energy and effort in them there is zero joy of ownership.
So many bikes fit them as standard equipment because they are light and powerful. They are also absolutely dirt cheap. Avid's sole market is OEM, simply because the cognoscenti won't buy them aftermarket.
Those in the know buy a bike with Avids on them and put them straight on Ebay. If you have any spannering ability whatsoever you can get a set of Shimanos (M435 Deore at CRC for £15 an end last week) or M596 Deore from Germany for £60 or some SLX from Germany for £110, or XT for £130. That's for the set, front and rear. All you have to do is swap the hoses over.

Brake Wars on Singletrackworld.com rage between the polarised camps of Hope VS Shimano. I'll let you nip over there and read them , but basically the oldSkoolers love the ownership and faffage of Hopes, which are repairable when they go wrong/soft/leak, or Shimano which cost half as much but you can't get spares to rebuild them. They either work superbly, or you throw the caliper away and buy a new one for next to knack-all.